Asia
Thousands of Indian farmers are marching to New Delhi to renew their demands over crop prices
Indian authorities Tuesday deployed heavy security to stop thousands of protesting farmers who were marching toward New Delhi to renew their demands for assured crop prices in a repeat of 2021 protests when they camped on the capital's outskirts for more than a year.
Police sealed multiple entry points into New Delhi by erecting barriers of barbed wire, spikes and cement blocks. Large gatherings in the capital were banned and internet services were suspended in some districts of the neighboring Haryana state.
The renewed protests come more than two years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi withdrew controversial agriculture laws that had triggered the protests in which tens of thousands of farmers hunkered outside the capital through a harsh winter and a devastating COVID-19 surge.
Farmers, who began their march from northern Haryana and Punjab states, are asking for a guaranteed minimum support price for all farm produce. The government protects agricultural producers against any sharp fall in farm prices by announcing a minimum purchase price on certain essential crops at the beginning of the sowing season, taking into account the cost of production.
Farmers are also pressing the government to meet its promise to double their income.
The withdrawal of the agricultural laws in November 2021 was seen as a major retreat by the Modi government. The government at that time said it would set up a panel of farmers and government officials to find ways to ensure support prices for all farm produce. Multiple meetings since then have made no progress.
The march comes just months before national elections in India, in which Modi is widely expected to win a third term.
"We do not want to break any barricades. We want resolution of our issues through dialogue. But if they (the government) do nothing then what will we do? It is our compulsion," Sarwan Singh Pandher, a leader of one of the farmer groups, told reporters Tuesday.
Pandher said talks between farm leaders and government ministers Monday failed to produce any consensus on their key demands and that the government had refused to make a decision.
Farmers form the most influential voting bloc in India and politicians have long considered it unwise to alienate them.
Some farmer and trade unions have also announced a countrywide rural strike on Friday.
Pakistan's premier defends the delay in releasing election results and denies the vote was unfair
Pakistan's caretaker prime minister on Monday defended the widely criticized delay in announcing the results of last week's parliamentary election, saying authorities took only 36 hours to count over 60 million votes while grappling with militant attacks.
Anwaarul-Haq-Kakar insisted that a “level playing field” was available to all political parties, including that of imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan, and pointed out that election results in 2018, when Khan won office, had been announced after 66 hours.
Khan's party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, won more seats than any other in Thursday's election, but only because its candidates ran as independents after the party was expelled from the vote. The candidates won 93 out of 265 National Assembly seats, not enough to form a government. Khan couldn't run because of criminal convictions that he calls politically motivated.
The Pakistan Muslim League-N party, led by three-time premier and ex-felon Nawaz Sharif, secured 75 seats. The Pakistan People’s Party, or PPP, led by Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, came in third with 54 seats.
The two parties, which led the campaign to kick Khan out of office in 2022, were in talks to form a coalition government.
Sharif was marked as the Pakistani security establishment’s preferred candidate because of his smooth return to the country in October. He spent four years in exile to avoid serving prison sentences, but his convictions were overturned within weeks of his arrival.
The vote was overshadowed by allegations of vote-rigging and an unprecedented mobile phone shutdown. The Election Commission denied the allegations of rigging.
Kakar told a news conference that mobile phone service was suspended on election day for security reasons following a pair of militant attacks that killed 30 people in southwestern Baluchistan province a day before the vote. He said that security forces last week killed a key militant from the Islamic State group who was behind the elections-related attacks.
He said he could afford a delay in announcing results “but not the terrorism."
Kakar said the elections were largely peaceful, free and fair, and the process to install a new government could begin in the next eight or nine days when the National Assembly is expected to convene. He said the parliament will elect the speaker, deputy speaker and new prime minister.
Kakar also said people were allowed to hold peaceful protests but warned that action would be taken if rallies turned violent.
On Monday, thousands of Khan's supporters and members of other political parties blocked key highways and held a daylong strike in the volatile southwest to protest alleged vote-rigging. Separately, several nationalist and Islamist political parties in Baluchistan blocked two highways leading to Iranian and Afghan border crossings.
Jan Achakzai, a government spokesman in Baluchistan, urged protesters to “show grace” by accepting defeat and moving away from the highways.
The U.N. secretary-general urged Pakistan's parties and political leaders “to maintain a calm atmosphere" and reject any actions that could increase tensions, spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The statement called for all disputes to be settled through established legal frameworks and for rights to be respected.
Pakistan's election left no clear winner. So who is likely to govern and what happens next?
Pakistan’s parliamentary elections left no clear winner.
Allies of imprisoned ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan won the most seats in the lower house of parliament in the elections last Thursday. It was a shock outcome given the obstacles: His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party could hold no campaign rallies, had no polling agents on election day and faced internet restrictions. They won 93 out of 265 National Assembly seats. It’s not enough to form a government, however.
The other two mainstream parties, led by Khan’s rivals, also failed to secure enough seats to form a government on their own. They are the PML-N of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the PPP, led by political dynasty scion Bilawal-Bhutto Zardari. They won 75 and 54 seats respectively.
It’s Pakistan’s parliament that chooses the next prime minister, so having a majority is crucial.
WHO'S IN THE RUNNING?
Not Imran Khan. He’s in prison and barred from holding public office. The PTI said it doesn’t want or need an alliance, claiming it has enough seats. It doesn't. The party has public support — as shown by the number of seats that candidates scooped up — but it doesn’t have the backing of political peers.
Analyst Azim Chaudhry said the other parties have “grievances and grudges” against Khan from his time in office and that they’re not ready to shake hands with him because he’s made it clear he doesn’t want to talk to them.
The PML-N and PPP started coalition talks once it became clear that Khan loyalists had taken a lead. They claim to have pacts with smaller parties and newly minted parliamentarians, including defectors from Khan’s side, to bump up their seat quota to the magic majority number of 169.
But knowing who could become prime minister from this ragtag crowd is trickier.
Party insiders say Sharif isn’t suited to a coalition because of his temperament. His younger brother, Shehbaz, led a coalition after Khan was ousted from power and is regarded as more accommodating.
And then there’s Bhutto-Zardari, a former foreign minister. It’s not clear if he’ll want the top job in a government that came to power through such a tainted election.
But he and his party are key to any coalition because they have the third largest share of seats. Not for nothing is his father, Asif Ali Zardari, regarded as a kingmaker. He won’t do something that jeopardizes his son’s political future, like joining hands with Khan, according to Chaudhry.
There’s a chance of an outside candidate becoming prime minister to keep all sides happy, but it’s hard to see the two families relinquishing their claim to power.
WHAT'S THE MOOD?
People are unhappy about the way the election unfolded and how votes were counted. Legal challenges are underway to contest some results. There are protests and allegations about vote-rigging, with Khan’s supporters in particular angry about what they perceive as electoral theft. Police have used tear gas to disperse crowds and arrested dozens of people in sporadic demonstrations that have broken out across Pakistan. The international community and rights groups have expressed concern about voting irregularities.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Pakistan’s president has to convene the inaugural session of the new National Assembly within 21 days of the election, or Feb. 29. Lawmakers are sworn in during that session. They submit nomination papers for a number of key roles, including the speaker and leader of the house. After these positions are filled, a new prime minister is elected through a parliamentary vote, a task that requires a simple majority.
Khan supporters and other Pakistani parties block highways to protest election results
Thousands of supporters of Pakistan's imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan and members of other political parties blocked key highways and started a daylong strike in the volatile southwest Monday to protest alleged rigging of last week's elections.
Thursday's vote to choose a new parliament was overshadowed by the vote-rigging allegations, an unprecedented mobile phone shutdown, and the exclusion of Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, from the vote.
While election winners were celebrating victory, PTI and other parties refused to accept their defeat in dozens of constituencies. Dozens of Khan’s supporters were briefly detained in the eastern city of Lahore over the weekend while protesting alleged vote-rigging.
Jan Achakzai, a government spokesman in the southwest province of Baluchistan, urged protesters to “show grace” by accepting defeat and moving away from the highways.
Read: Allies of ex-premier Imran Khan secure biggest share of seats in Pakistan's final election tally
Khan could not run in the election because of the criminal convictions against him that he says are politically motivated.
Still, candidates backed by Khan won more seats than the political parties who ousted him from power nearly two years ago, according to the final tally published Sunday.
No party won a majority, however, so the parties will have to hold talks on forming a coalition government. The new parliament chooses the country’s next prime minister.
Candidates aligned with Khan secured 101 out of 266 seats in the National Assembly, or lower house of parliament.
The Pakistan Muslim League-N party led by three-time premier and ex-felon Nawaz Sharif secured 75. Sharif is currently in talks with allies to form a coalition government.
Read: Pakistan hits back at criticism of election conduct and insists cellphone curbs were necessary
The Pakistan People’s Party, or PPP, led by Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, came in third with 54 seats. One result has been withheld and another vote was postponed because of a candidate’s death. The campaign to kick Khan out of office in 2022 was led by the PML-N and the PPP.
Pakistan’s military has always cast itself as the ultimate arbiter of who becomes prime minister, and Sharif was marked out as the powerful security establishment’s preferred candidate because of his smooth return to the country last October.
Sharif spent four years in exile to avoid serving prison sentences but his convictions were overturned within weeks of his arrival in Pakistan.
A defense minister and 2 former governors vie for Indonesia’s presidency
Indonesians on Wednesday will elect the successor to popular President Joko Widodo, who is serving his second and final term.
It is a three-way race for the presidency among current Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and two former provincial governors, Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo.
Subianto, who is widely seen as the front-runner, has picked Widodo’s eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, as his running mate.
About 205 million people are eligible to vote in the world's third-largest democracy and the most populous Muslim-majority nation.
Here is some information about the candidates and their running mates.
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PRABOWO SUBIANTODefense Minister Prabowo Subianto is the only candidate with links to the 1967-98 Suharto dictatorship, when he was a lieutenant general.
A longtime commander in the Kopassus special forces, he was dishonorably discharged in 1998 after Kopassus soldiers kidnapped and tortured political opponents of Suharto, his then-father-in-law. Of 22 activists kidnapped that year, 13 remain missing. Subianto never faced trial, although several of his men were tried and convicted.
He went into self-exile in Jordan for several years before returning and founding the Gerindra Party in early 2008. He ran for the presidency twice, losing to current President Joko Widodo both times.
He refused to acknowledge the results but accepted Widodo's offer of the defense minister position in 2019, a bid for unity.
Polls show 72-year-old Subianto well ahead of his two rivals, though perhaps not with the majority needed to avoid a runoff. While he is the oldest candidate, his running mate is the youngest: 36-year-old Surakarta Mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Widodo's son.
Raka is below the statutory minimum age of 40 but was allowed to run under an exception created by the Constitutional Court — then headed by Widodo's brother-in-law — allowing current and former regional governors to run at age 35.
Subianto has had close ties with hard-line Islamists whom he used to undermine his opponents.
He has vowed to continue Widodo's economic development plan, in what experts view as an attempt to draw on Widodo’s popularity. He is strongly opposed by human rights activists, who associate him with torture and disappearances during the final years of the Suharto dictatorship.
Read:Pakistan hits back at criticism of election conduct and insists cellphone curbs were necessary
GANJAR PRANOWOGanjar Pranowo is the governing party candidate, but does not have the support of Widodo, who has distanced himself from the party's campaign and is seen as implicitly backing Subianto and Raka, his son.
Pranowo was a national legislator for the governing Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle for 10 years before being elected in 2013 for the first of two terms as Central Java governor.
While governor, he refused to allow Israel to participate in the Under-20 FIFA World Cup to be held in his province. FIFA subsequently dropped Indonesia as host of the games, triggering a backlash against Pranowo from soccer fans. Israel and Muslim-majority Indonesia do not have diplomatic ties.
He has been a less enthusiastic backer of Widodo's policies than Subianto.
“We want to develop Indonesia faster and continue the good things that have been done by the current government, to fix what is not good enough and to leave the bad ones,” Pranowo said.
His running mate is Mohammad Mahfud, who resigned as security minister to focus on campaigning. He is also a former defense minister, justice minister and chief justice of the Constitutional Court.
ANIES BASWEDANAnies Baswedan, the former head of an Islamic university, served as governor of Jakarta until last year after winning a divisive election in 2017 against an ethnic Chinese Christian incumbent backed by Widodo.
Baswedan, a former Fulbright scholar, had been education and culture minister from 2014 to 2016, when Widodo removed him from the Cabinet.
Backed by conservative Muslim groups, he galvanized hundreds of thousands to take to the streets in 2016 against the Christian governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, who was then imprisoned on blasphemy charges after quoting the Quran in a speech. Baswedan was seen as using the controversy to successfully run for governor.
His use of religious identity politics in the 2017 election distanced him from moderate Muslims. His choice of Muhaimin Iskandar as his running mate in Wednesday's election is viewed as an attempt to rebuild that support.
Iskandar’s Islam-based National Awakening Party has strong ties with Indonesia’s largest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, which boasts over 45 million members.
Baswedan opposes Widodo's signature plan to move Indonesia’s capital from Jakarta to Nusantara on the island of Borneo, about 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) away, which involves constructing government buildings and housing from scratch.
He said in an interview with The Associated Press last month that democracy in Indonesia is declining, referring to Subianto's choice of Widodo's son as his running mate, and pledged to get it back on track.
“This means that there is a decline in trust, it means that our democracy is experiencing a decline in quality, it means that many legal rules are being bent,” he said.
Allies of ex-premier Imran Khan secure biggest share of seats in Pakistan's final election tally
Allies of imprisoned Pakistani ex-premier Imran Khan won more seats in national elections than the political parties who ousted him from power nearly two years ago, according to a final tally of results published Sunday.
The vote last Thursday to choose a new parliament was overshadowed by allegations of vote-rigging, an unprecedented mobile phone shutdown, and the exclusion of Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, from the vote.
People from the PTI ran as independent candidates because of moves by the Election Commission and Supreme Court to cripple their party’s participation. One step included stripping the party of its electoral symbol, which helps illiterate voters find candidates on the ballot. Another was banning party rallies.
Khan, who was kicked out of office through a no-confidence vote in parliament in 2022, has been in prison since last August. He was barred from contesting the vote because of his criminal convictions and contends his sentences and the slew of legal cases against him are politically motivated.
The final tally showed that independent candidates secured 101 out of 266 seats in the National Assembly, or lower house of parliament.
The Pakistan Muslim League-N party, or PML-N, led by three-time premier and ex-felon Nawaz Sharif, secured the second biggest number of seats at 75.
The Pakistan People’s Party, or PPP, led by Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, came in third with 54 seats. One result has been withheld and another vote was postponed because of a candidate’s death. The campaign to kick Khan out of office in 2022 was led by the PML-N and the PPP.
No party has won a majority to form a government, so Pakistan will have a coalition. The new parliament chooses the country's next prime minister.
The election result is an embarrassment for Sharif, who was marked out as the powerful security establishment's preferred candidate because of his smooth return to the country last October. Pakistan’s military has always cast itself as the ultimate arbiter in who becomes prime minister.
Sharif spent four years in self-exile abroad to avoid serving prison sentences but his convictions were overturned within weeks of his arrival in Pakistan.
Even on polling day, Sharif insisted he didn't want a coalition and demanded a full five-year term for one party. By Friday evening, seeing his party trail behind the independent candidates backed by Khan, he spoke of alliances and joining hands.
Sharif has never completed a term in office.
Year of the Dragon flames colorful festivities across Asian nations
With fireworks, feasts and red envelopes stuffed with cash for the kids, numerous Asian nations and overseas communities have welcomed Saturday the Lunar New Year.
It begins with the first new moon of the lunar calendar and ends 15 days later on the first full moon. The dates of the holiday vary slightly each year, falling between late January and mid-February as it is based on the cycles of the moon,
Festivities to mark the Year of the Dragon in Taiwan were marked by appearances by newly elected president Lai Ching-te and the speaker of the Legislature, Han Kuo-yu, who represents the opposition Nationalist Party that favors political unification with China.
In her address, Tsai said Taiwan faced a continuing conflict between “freedom and democracy versus authoritarianism” that “not only affects geopolitical stability, but also impacts the restructuring of global supply chains.”
“These past eight years, we have kept our promises and maintained the status quo. We have also shown our determination and strengthened our national defense,” Tsai, who is barred by term limits from seeking a third four-year term, said in reference to the self-governing island democracy's close economic ties but fraught political relations with China which threatens to invade the island to realize its goal of bringing Taiwan and its high-tech economy under its control.
Taiwan, China and other areas saw highways clogged and flights fully booked as residents traveled home to visit family or took the approximately one-week holiday as an opportunity to vacation abroad.
Firing bottle rockets and other fireworks is a traditional way of welcoming the new year and seeing off any lingering bad memories. Children are given red envelopes stuffed with cash as a show of affection and to help them get a leg-up in the coming months.
Long lines of cars congested South Korean highways on Saturday as millions of people began leaving the densely populated Seoul capital region to visit relatives across the country for the Lunar New Year’s holiday.
Royal palaces and other tourist sites were also packed with visitors wearing the country’s colorful traditional “hanbok” flowing robes. Groups of aging North Korean refugees from the 1950-53 civil war, which remains unresolved, bowed northward during traditional family rituals held in the Southern border town of Paju.
The holiday came amid heightened tensions with North Korea, which has been ramping up its tests of weapons aimed at overwhelming regional missile defenses and issuing provocative threats of nuclear conflict with the South.
The South's President Yoon Suk Yeol started the holiday by issuing a message of thanks to South Korean soldiers, saying that their services along the “frontline barbwires, sea and sky” were allowing the nation to enjoy the holidays.
Vietnam also celebrated the Lunar New Year, known there as Tet.
Parades and commemorations are also being held in cities with large Asian communities overseas, particularly in New York and San Francisco.
Pakistan hits back at criticism of election conduct and insists cellphone curbs were necessary
Pakistan on Saturday hit back at criticism over the conduct of its parliamentary elections, which were held amid sporadic militant attacks and an unprecedented stoppage of all mobile phone services.
The strongly worded reaction from the Foreign Ministry insisted the vote was peaceful and successful.
The U.S. State Department said that Thursday's vote was held under undue restrictions on freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly. The European Union has also said it regrets the lack of a level playing field due to the inability of some political actors to contest the elections.
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The ministry said it was surprised by "the negative tone of some of these statements, which neither take into account the complexity of the electoral process, nor acknowledge the free and enthusiastic exercise of the right to vote by tens of millions of Pakistanis”.
It said such statements “ignore the undeniable fact that Pakistan has held general elections, peacefully and successfully, while dealing with serious security threats resulting primarily from foreign sponsored terrorism."
It said there was no nationwide internet shutdown and “only mobile services were suspended for the day to avoid terrorist incidents on polling day."
In Thursday's vote, no political party gained a simple majority and independent candidates backed by imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan took a lead in the vote count.
It forced Khan's main rival, three-time premier Nawaz Sharif, to announce plans to try to form a coalition government. Khan was disqualified from running because of criminal convictions.
Candidates backed by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party won 100 out of the 266 seats up for grabs in the National Assembly. Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League party captured 71 seats.
Read: Pakistan's ex-PM Sharif says he will seek coalition government after trailing imprisoned rival Khan
Also Saturday, the leader of a political party was wounded and two police officers killed in a clash in the country's northwest.
The violence broke out in North Waziristan when Mohsin Dawar and his supporters tried to march toward an army facility while protesting delays in announcing the election result, police official Zahid Khan said.
Indian gov't announces highest civilian awards for 2 ex-PMs, agricultural scientist
The Indian government announced on Friday that two former prime ministers, Chaudhary Charan Singh and P. V. Narasimha Rao, as well as renowned agricultural scientist M. S. Swaminathan, will be honored with the country's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna.
Singh served as prime minister from July 28, 1979 to January 14, 1980.
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Rao, associated with the Indian National Congress party, served as prime minister from June 21, 1991 to May 16, 1996.
Swaminathan is popularly known as the father of the Green Revolution in India.
Pakistan's ex-PM Sharif says he will seek coalition government after trailing imprisoned rival Khan
Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif changed tack on Friday and said he will seek to form a coalition government after his party trailed independent candidates backed by his rival Imran Khan in parliamentary election results.
Sharif told supporters he was sending his younger brother and former premier, Shehbaz Sharif, to meet the leaders of other parties and invite them to join the coalition.
Nawaz Sharif had gruffly rejected the idea of a coalition just a day earlier, when he told reporters after casting his vote that he wanted a single party running Pakistan for a full five-year term.
“We don’t have enough of a majority to form a government without the support of others and we invite allies to join the coalition so we can make joint efforts to pull Pakistan out of its problems,” he said in the eastern city of Lahore. He also asked independent candidates with a parliamentary seat to enter the coalition.
“I don't want to fight with those who are in the mood for fighting," he said. “We will have to sit together to settle all matters.”
Pakistan votes for a new parliament as militant attacks surge and jailed leader's party cries foul
He spoke after results earlier Friday showed candidates backed by imprisoned Khan leading in the election, a surprise given claims by his supporters and a national rights body that the balloting was manipulated against Khan.
A former cricket star turned Islamist politician with a significant grassroots following, Khan was disqualified from running in Thursday’s election because of criminal convictions against him. He contends his sentences and a slew of legal cases pending against him were politically motivated.
His party’s candidates were forced to run as independents after they were barred from using the party symbol — a cricket bat — to help illiterate voters find them on ballots.
Of the 221 National Assembly results announced by the election oversight body by Friday night, candidates backed by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, had won 90 seats. The Pakistan Muslim League party of three-time Premier Nawaz Sharif, had 62 seats.
With the results for 45 more seats still to come and a third major party in the mix, it was too soon for any party to declare victory.
But the lack of a majority did not stop Sharif's relatives and loyalists from appearing on a balcony at the party headquarters, waving to the crowds below. People threw rose petals on Sharif's car as he arrived to address party workers.
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PTI chairman Gohar Khan told Pakistani news channel Geo that the party's own count shows it securing a total of 150 seats, enough to form a government, though 169 seats are required for a majority in the 336-seat National Assembly, or lower house of parliament.
Observers had expected the Pakistan Muslim League to prevail and put Sharif on track to another term as prime minister due to the disadvantages faced by Khan's party. Along with Khan being in prison and accruing more criminal convictions, election officials and police blocked his party from holding rallies and opening campaign offices, and its online events were blocked.
The PTI said the moves were intended to prevent them from competing in the election and gaining momentum with voters.
Sharif's most likely coalition partner would be the Pakistan People's Party of Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, the son of the assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was in third place with 51 seats. Final results are expected by midnight.
Pakistan's deeply divided political climate is unlikely to produce a strong coalition pushing for the betterment of the country, grappling with high inflation, year-round energy outages, and militant attacks. Sharif’s rivals, including Bhutto-Zardari, criticized him on the campaign trail so the coalition he seeks is apparently aimed at keeping Khan in prison and the PTI out of politics.
Sporadic violence and an unprecedented nationwide cellphone service shutdown overshadowed Thursday's voting.
The chief election commissioner previously said the results would be communicated to the oversight body by early Friday and released to the public after that, but this started only at midday. The Interior Ministry attributed the delay to a “lack of connectivity” resulting from security precautions.
Pakistan's election: Who's running, what's the mood and will anything change?
The Election Commission has also started announcing election results for the country's four provincial assemblies, a vote also held Thursday. The commission posted those results on its website more than 15 hours after polls closed.
Sharif and Khan's circumstances on election day represented a reversal of fortunes for the two men. Sharif returned to Pakistan in October after four years of self-imposed exile abroad to avoid serving prison sentences. Within weeks of his return, his convictions were overturned, leaving him free to seek a fourth term.